Professor Craig Calhoun, Director of LSE

Meet the Director

"LSE is a remarkable institution. It is top-ranked, intellectually innovative, and full of brilliant people. Since its foundation the School has been devoted to understanding major social issues and to grasping the course of social change. Its research shapes and leads public debate.

I am committed to this historical mission and determined that LSE will continue to seek to 'better society'. I am also determined that LSE will continue to live up to its motto, `rerum cognoscere causas', which means to know the causes of things. Throughout my academic life I have worked to make social science accessible and relevant to people's lives, to ensure that they shed light on the many difficult decisions we all make on a daily basis. LSE is a wonderful place to continue that endeavour.

On my appointment I resolved to do all I could to communicate clearly with the many audiences that wish to know about LSE. This page contains a clear record of my communications with the School community. The area will be updated regularly and will include my all-School emails as they appear."

Why the LSE works in the Middle EastThe Middle East is a volatile and complex region. It is also an enormously important region for the contemporary world and a region that has made rich historical contributions to global culture and knowledge. It is vital that LSE study … Continue reading →

WelcomeWelcome to my personal web pages and blog. I am keen to communicate with the School community and those outside the School and will use these pages to share thoughts on issues and events both at and beyond LSE. The … Continue reading →

Biography

Professor Calhoun is a world-renowned social scientist whose work connects sociology to culture, communication, politics, philosophy and economics.

He took up his post as LSE Director on 1 September 2012, having left the United States where he was University Professor at New York University and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge and President of the Social Science Research Council.

Professor Calhoun took a D Phil in History and Sociology at Oxford University and a Master's in Social Anthropology at Manchester. He co-founded, with Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at LSE, the NYLON programme which brings together graduate students from New York and London for co-operative research programmes.

He is the author of several books including Nations Matter, Critical Social Theory,Neither Gods Nor Emperors and most recently The Roots of Radicalism (University of Chicago Press, 2012).

Describing his own approach to academic work, Professor Calhoun says: "We must set high standards for ourselves, but in order to inform the public well, not to isolate ourselves from it."

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